Perspective · 4 of 8 · 6 min

Looking up, looking down

Tilt your gaze and verticals stop being parallel. A third vanishing point appears above you or below you.

1
Looking up
The horizon drops low in the picture. Verticals lean inward as they rise and meet above the page. Use this for a tower, a stair, a cornice over your head.
2
Looking down
The horizon sits high. Verticals converge toward the ground. Use this from a landing, a balcony, a mezzanine.
3
Do not invent it
If you are looking straight ahead, there is no third point. Most street sketches are two-point. A tilted vertical that you did not mean reads as a mistake, not as drama.

Critique

The third point is off the horizon — above if you look up, below if you look down
Left and right points still share eye level
You can say why this view is not two-point
A level gaze would send that third point off the page and return the verticals to plumb

Drill

Three point: tilt the gaze and verticals converge. Up puts the third point overhead. Down puts it below the horizon.